


breathe

by notsofluffyunicorn



Series: Bughead Tumblr Prompts [3]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: 2x21, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Love, Major Character Injury, Teen Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-05 14:53:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14621040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notsofluffyunicorn/pseuds/notsofluffyunicorn
Summary: 2x21 - view the AU aftermath from Betty's perspective.





	breathe

**Author's Note:**

> I promised myself I wouldn't write a stupid oneshot for 2x21, but.. here it is. 
> 
> Thank you so so much to juggybetts on tumblr for this prompt! Thanks angel:) 
> 
> I own nothing, and honestly after 2x21, I'm kind of glad I don't own anything because I would very much like to keep my head on my shoulders.

The sound rippled through the air like a gunshot. The shrill scream was unwelcoming, raw, and borderline unhinged.

Betty rushed forward and fell to her knees in unison with FP, the scream still lingering in the air as she gently lowered her head down to rest on Jughead's bruised and battered shoulder. The scram was no longer shrill, instead being muffled by the mutilaited body, the body resting half on a shaking, sobbing man and half on a screaming, devasted young girl.

"Oh, my god _._ Oh, my god." Betty cried, her tears mixing with the blood currently soaking through her pink coat. She'd felt grief before, she'd felt dread and horror. She had never, _ever,_ felt sheer terror. The kind of terror that swirled in her stomach and slowly, almost tenderly, crawled it's way up to her throat, clawing it's way out of her, manifesting into a scream and becoming almost lifelike in the way it overtook every coherent thought she had.

Vaguely, in the back of her mind she registered FP calling out for someone to call and ambulance but all she could truly focus on was the broken, mangled mess of a man laying against her. She held him tightly, her fingers digging into his shoulder blade as she tugged at him, trying to release the vice that was keeping him from being completely in her arms. She had no rational thought, she knew only who she was and that the man in her arms was the love of her life and she'd be damned if she'd let anybody else touch him.

The sirens wailed in the distance, and the thought that they would be here soon to take the body from her arms made her heart ache in the worst way and she clutched at him desperately, burying her face into his neck, oblivious to FP's crying shouts as he begged her to move.

"No! Don't touch him!" She screamed, startled into action as she felt someone try to Jughead out of her grasp. She panicked, and began kicking and screaming as FP dragged her away, his arms constricting around her abdomen as he pulled her away from Jughead as the paramedics worked in tandem to get him onto a stretcher.

She sobbed quietly as she watched helplessly as they tubed her boyfriend and loaded him into the ambulance before shooting off into the night. This pain, the crippling, agonising pain was unlike anything she'd ever felt before. She couldn't breathe, her mind wasn't functioning, and her entire body _ached_ with the need to be near him again.

FP hoisted her up in his arms even more, and the awkward angle in which he held her was far from bothering her and instead she stared at the rapidly depleting flashing lights as they raced her only reason for breathing away to save his life.

"C'mon," FP's clogged voice shot through her brain like a knife and she jolted in shock at the sudden intrusion. "I need you to wake up a little bit, Betty. The only way we're getting to our boy is on my bike." He explained, giving her a little shake, his grip tightening on her almost desperately.

"M'kay," She slurred, pushing against him slightly so he would release his grip. "I'm good, I'm good, we've gotta go. We've gotta go right now." She inhaled sharply and pulled herself together as much as possible before she turned around and all but ran to where FP's motorcycle was parked. They had to go _right now._

* * *

Her mom had cried when she first saw her.

Subconsciously, she knew she probably looked like a nightmare. She was caked with _his_ blood, and her face was most likely bright red and puffy from the crying that had only recently just stopped. The metallic smell hadn't left her nose, even after her mom pulled off her coat and began wiping at her hands and face with a packet of facial wipes she'd pulled out of her bag.

Everything was wrong. She stood up with a growl of frustration and moved away from her mother's comforting hands angrily. Alice Cooper was not the person Betty wanted right now. The person Betty wanted, was currently laying under a surgical lamp, on an uncomfortable bed, going through the most intense surgery of his life.

Betty made her way over to the nurses station in front of her, her fingers tapping an impatient rhythm as she waited for a nurse to finish her phone call.

"Mr. Jones isn't out of surgery yet, ma'am," The nurse murmured sympathetically, throwing her a short smile as she hung the phone up before standing up and walking into the file room, completely dismissing Betty without a care.

The overwhelming anger swooped in again, and her body began shaking. A dark part of her mind could suddenly sympathise with her father, because if she could, she would wreck havoc on multiple people in this godforsaken town right now. Specifically, she would hunt Penny Peabody down and would singlehandedly deliver her to the devil for what she'd done tonight.

"Family of Forsythe Jones?"

Betty rocketed forward, pushing herself through the crowd of people. It had warmed her heart slightly to see the amount of people in the waiting room. The Serpents, the Bulldogs, Cheryl, Veronica, Archie, Fred, Alice... they had all sat in a room quietly together and chatted as though the town wasn't about to go to war mere hours ago. She had once tried telling Jughead that Riverdale was his home too, and this proved it more than anything. More people loved and cared for him than he thought.

"Yes, that's us." FP nodded desperately, giving the crowd behind him a slight shove so Betty could make her way to the front.

The doctor looked around the room nervously, his eyes lingering on the multitude of people in the waiting area.

"Whatever you say to me, you can say to them. I'm Jughead's father." FP cut in before the doctor could protest.

The balding man standing in front of a group with over forty people looked down at his notes and frowned. "Actually, I'm looking for Forsythe's next of kin. Is Elizabeth Cooper here?"

Betty surged forward, her head nodding with enough force that it made the back of her neck ache. "I'm here. I'm here. Is he okay? What's going on? Is he alive?"

The doctor nodded. "He's alive. He's not out of the woods yet, but he's alive." He reassured her. "I'm Doctor Loran, and I'm going to be treating your charge for the unforeseeable future. Forsythe has suffered a lot of serious injuries. He has a fracture on his left ankle, as well as a dislocated kneecap. He is suffering from a severe concussion which has caused his brain to swell due to the trauma inflicted on his head. However, he's still showing decent signs of brain activity so the only thing we're truly concerned with at this point is when he wakes up, is that he might possibly suffer from memory loss." He paused momentarily, his sympathetic eyes roaming over the crowd of people as he let that news settle. "He has two broken ribs and one fractured. One of the broken ribs has pierced his lung which has caused difficulty for him in the breathing department. We've had to put him into a medically induced coma with intubation to help his breathing otherwise he most likely wouldn't survive the night. It'll only be temporary thought, his lung is not badly damage it just needs a little help. We're optimistic enough to believe that we should have him off the machine within the next three days. After that, it's down to him to wake up."

Betty whined lowly and swiped at the tears that were pouring down her face. Her entire body ached to be near him, and hearing how badly he was hurt, how he very nearly died had struck a cord within her. He was hooked up to a machine with a tube down his throat to help him breathe for fuck sake.

"We've grafted skin from his inner right thigh and reconstructed it onto his right upper arm to cover the open wound there. We've stitched over twenty smaller open wounds over various parts of his body and he's going to heal nicely I believe." He smiled softly at her, apparently overlooking the fact she was a shaking, crying mess. "I have high hopes for Forsythe, Elizabeth. So long as he can breathe on his own when we bring him out of the coma, then I don't see why he won't survive. Now, he will need a lot of physical therapy when he does eventually wake up. He has severe bruising to his hip bone, and due to the misuse of it for the next however long, it'll be difficult for him to walk properly. Add that with the fractured ankle and dislocated knee, and you have a spell for disaster if we don't do the physical therapy."

Betty huffed in through her nose and nodded. He would get whatever he needed, whenever he needed it.

"Okay, now, before I let anybody see him, I need to know. Who is paying his medical bills?"

The group suddenly fell silent and stared at each other nervously. The only one who had the money was Cheryl, and she was to busy sobbing into her girlfriends neck to understand what question had just silenced the whole room.

"I will." Betty told Doctor Loran firmly after peering up at a shaking, crying, desperate FP. They both knew that FP couldn't afford his son's medical bills. "I'm due to come into a hefty inheritance left by my cousin. I have the paperwork as proof that it'll be in my account within the week and it will be enough to cover all of Jughead's bills and his physical therapy. I can have my lawyer draw up a binding document between myself and the hospital that puts me at liberty to pay you the second the money is in my account." She offered.

Doctor Loran nodded, his inquisitive eyes roaming over her face. She hoped he could see how much Jughead was loved. It was the least she could do.

"Of course, Elizabeth. Now, I can only let two of you in at a time, so..." He trailed off and his eyes flickered between her and FP.

They both rushed forward and fell in line behind Loran, following him down the hall and into the intensive care unit.

_Room 221._

The door opened slowly and Betty felt all the life inside of her drain out in an instant as she stepped into the room. The sight that greeted her made her stomach curl, her heart burn and her eyes widen.

Jughead was laying in a large bed, propped up slightly by two pillows and burrowed under the thin comforter. He looked _tiny._

The parts of his body that was visible was littered with bruised, and there was a stapled wound above his left eyebrow that Betty knew would scar. His arm was heavily bandaged and his ankle was propped up and in a cast. His knee was secured with a knee brace and he had a cannula in his right hand, and - and - and... _the tubes._ Oh, god, the tubes.

There was a thick tube hanging from his mouth, held in place by what looked like a mouth guard. His lips were already cracking due to the required openness. The tube was light blue and she could see a little line moving as the air pumped into him. A small, thin wire type tube was taped to his face as it travelled into his nose. _For food,_ Doctor Loran told them. It looked more like stomach acid. A nurse was standing beside him with a little tool shoved in his mouth that was suctioning all the mucus in his throat to stop him from choking. You could barely see his face through the amount of wires falling over him.

She shuffled forward slowly, sobs beginning to echo around the room as she stared down at the love of her life. She settled in the chair beside him and clutched his hand tightly, trying to miss the cannula. Seeing him like this, made her hurt more than she thought it would. More pain. More terror. It was never ending.

* * *

It had been four days.

They had taken Jughead off the tubes late the night before, and he had been doing amazingly well with breathing on his own. Doctor Loran had reassured Betty and FP after their panicked cries when he hadn't woken up after they'd stopped the sedation. _It could be his TBI; traumatic brain injury,_ he'd told them. _His body is recovering after a serious trauma. He'll wake up when he's ready,_ He'd said confidently.

It had been four days since the worst night of her life, and it had been twenty minutes since the results. She was pregnant. She was eight weeks pregnant.

Doctor Loran had pulled Betty aside minutes after she'd walked out the bathroom after throwing up for the second time that day. He'd expressed the same concerns her mother, FP, Veronica and multiple Serpents had informed her of throughout the last four days. However, Doctor Loran had different reasoning to everybody else.

"Betty, come home sweetheart," Alice urged, running a hand through Betty's loose hair as she dropped into the chair she'd claimed as her own. She was in shock, and all she wanted to do was stay at Jug's side, whispering memories into his ear as she ran her fingers through his hair. She wanted to tell him their little secret. "You need to rest."

"No, mom," She snapped. After everything, she could only gather a small amount of guilt as her mother reeled back at her sudden outburst. The bruises still burned into her mothers skin quickly reminded her that Alice was going through something too. "I'm sorry, mom, but I can't leave him." She said softly, staring up at her mom, willing her to see her resolve.

FP stood up from his chair and craned backwards, the resulting pop of his back sounding both painful and relieving. "It's okay, Al," He murmured, smiling comfortingly at Alice. "Let her stay. I know my boy needs her and she needs to see him breathe."

And that was the crux of her problem. She couldn't function away from Jughead because she absolutely, under any circumstances, needed to physically watch him breathe.

Alice sighed softly and nodded. It was starting to get late, and Polly was due to be in Riverdale soon. She'd heard the news of Jughead, Chic and their father and had immediately called their mother, promising that she'd be back as soon as. The as soon as, was tonight. She nodded to her mother as she explained this too her, leaning into her gentle forehead kiss as she said her goodbyes before leaving the room.

Betty focused all her attention on Jughead once more, completely forgetting about everything and everyone.

She stood up slowly and shuffled closer and ran her fingers through his hair. "Juggie," She breathed. "Please, wake up soon. I miss you so fucking much. I need you," She was powerless to stop the tears from coming once more. She grabbed his motionless hand and placed it on her stomach. "We need you." She cried harder and pressed a kiss to his chapped lips. "We love you." She whispered into his ear before drawing back slightly.

"Betty," FP called gently. "Go home."

Her head whipped around to stare at him, and if she wasn't suddenly so irrationally angry she probably would've noticed that his eyes looked suspiciously wet. "What? No!"

"Betty, you need to rest. For my grandchild." He implored, his eyes boring into hers with a look of gentle tenderness that she hadn't been privy to from him before. "Please."

The fight left her quicker than it came. She was stupid. What was she doing. She couldn't leave him, she couldn't handle the thought of it, but what if she was endangering their child? The sleepless nights, the lack of food... she would never forgive herself if he woke up and the first thing he found out was that she was incapable of keeping their unborn baby safe inside of her while he fought so hard to get back to them.

"FP," She whimpered, terrified beyond belief. She was so _stupid._ She wasn't ready to tell anybody yet. The stress she was dealing with now was enough without adding the stress of disappointment on top.

"Don't worry," FP murmured. "I won't tell your mother. I'm you want Jug to be first to know when he wakes up. So rest. You need it. You both do." His eyes flickered down to her still flat stomach and the spark of tenderness flared again.

"But what if he wakes up and I'm not here?" She asked, her heart beating erratically at the thought.

FP shook his hand and wandered over to her. He watched as she gently placed Jughead's hand down again before he tugged her into his arms and held her tightly. "He'll understand, darlin'," He promised. "He'll want both you and that baby to be safe and healthy. You need to go home and rest. Even if it is just for a few hours. I will call you if he so much as twitches, okay? I promise you."

She nodded and sniffled loudly, trying to stop the flow of tears as she swiped at her cheeks. "Okay. Thank you, FP. I'll be home as soon as I can." She promised, tightening her arms around him momentarily before breaking apart and pressing another kiss to Jughead's lips before she grabbed her bag and headed out into the hallway.

The bag felt like it was weighing her down. She hadn't had the chance to properly look inside it, all she knew was that the bag contained a few pieces of clothing that her mother had brought down for her on the second night after she adamantly refused to go home. No matter the dire situation, Alice would still not have her daughter walking around in blood covered clothing.

She'd asked her mom to burn the clothes she was wearing. The jumper, the jacket, the jeans, the shoes, the socks and the underwear. She remembered it all so vividly, and after this was all over, she didn't want to be reminded of it due to items of clothing.

"Betty!" Cheryl's sudden shout made her whip around in fear, almost dropping the tonne bag as she turned.

"Jesus Christ, Cheryl," She snapped irritably. "Wear bells next time."

The giggle that echoed throughout the corridor made both girls stop short. It had seemed like a lifetime ago since anyone had giggled.

"Sorry, cousin," The redhead smiled apologetically after a momentary pause. "Are you finally going home? Can I give you a lift?"

Betty nodded mutely and followed her suddenly loving cousin out to her bright red car. The ride home was silent, and she was suddenly thankful for Cheryl's presence.

As they pulled up outside of the Cooper residence, Betty turned in her seat and grasped Cheryl's wrist in her hand. "Will you stay with me?" She murmured softly. She needed someone, and if it was Cheryl, then so be it.

The two girls quickly entered Betty's home, and they completely bypassed the living room of horrors, as Betty so aptly described it to her cousin as they trailed up the stairs in single file. It was the first time Cheryl had been back there since that one time they'd attempted something like friendship. People really do grow with time, Betty decided.

It didn't take them long to get settled in Betty's bed. Cheryl even accepted the blue shorts and long sleeved pink t-shirt that Betty offered her without complaint. Cheryl tapped Betty's shoulder and motioned for her to flip herself around, and Betty whimpered lowly as she felt Cheryl's small arms wrap around her frame as she initiated a hug. It felt nice to be held again, even if it wasn't by the person she so desperately craved.

"It'll be okay, babe, I promise." Cheryl whispered, leaning over and wiping one of Betty's tears away and pressed a kiss to her temple before she settled behind her in her big spoon position and fell asleep almost immediately.

Betty yawned softly and cursed herself as more tears fell. Stubbornly, she swiped at them and settled further into Cheryl's embrace. Her last thought before she went to sleep was of her battered boyfriend and the baby she was growing inside of her.

* * *

_"I'm so sorry, Betty," Archie whispered, his tears clogging his voice. "If I had looked after him more... If I had taken the time to get to know what was going on in his head more."_

_I shook my head, trying to squash the wave of resentment that flooded through me. I blocked out the words of sorrow, the apologies, and the love as people came over to me and FP, shaking our hands and hugging us like they knew who Jughead really was. It was their fucking fault that they were hugging me now anyway._

_The crowd dialled down slowly, and it was just me, myself and I. The little kick that prodded at my ribcage reminded me immediately that I wasn't truly alone._

_"Just me and you, angel," I whispered, running my fingers along my rapidly swelling abdomen soothingly._

_I walked slowly, almost in slow-motion in the direction of the tombstones that littered the only graveyard in Riverdale. I stopped in front of the newest one and peered down at the inscription curiously._

_Forsythe Pendleton Jones III - loved by his father, his girlfriend and his only child. Forever remembered._

_"NO!" The scream tore it's way through my throat and my knees crumbled and oh god, oh god, oh god, no, this wasn't happening this wasn't no - "No!"_

* * *

"I'm okay," The small, sleepy smile made her heart ache deliciously. "Stop fussing."

Betty beamed at him, her smile mirroring his dopey, medicated grin. "I love you, so much." She told him again for the tenth time in the last hour.

Jughead's smile widened, impossibly so, and he nuzzled into her neck as she settled in the bed next to him careful not to touch any of his injuries. "Love you."

It was on the seventh day that Jughead finally woke up. A whole week after the incident, and his bright eyes finally fluttered open.

She was literally vibrating with the need to tell him about the pregnancy. But, he wasn't coherent enough to even remember it the next day, and she needed him to go through this with her. She had him back, but she didn't have him fully yet. Betty held him tightly to her chest as his breathing pattered out into steady breaths as he fell into a peaceful sleep with his rest resting on her collarbone.

The relief she felt at having him against her again was amazing, and she'd never felt so alive then she did right now. She loved him so completely and unconditionally.

She laid there silently for what felt like hours, relishing in the feel of his steady breaths synchronising with hers for what felt like the first time in forever.

"I'm pregnant, Juggie. We're going to have a baby." She murmured softly to herself, needing to get the words out.

There was an unnerving silence that filled her ears suddenly, and her heart stuttered painfully in her chest as she realised that Jughead's steady breathing had ceased all of a sudden. "Jughead?" She called worriedly, tilting her head down slightly to check him over. She yelped in shock as his eyes locked on with hers immediately, the shock clear in them.

"You..." His voice was clearer then it had been in the entire time he'd been awake so far. "You're pregnant?" He mumbled, his eyes wide as he pushed himself upright slightly, wincing in pain as he moved.

Betty flushed immediately, her eyes downcast. "Yeah, Jug. I'm 9 weeks tomorrow." She whispered. "We're having a baby."

"Oh, shit," The whispered words were punctuated with a kiss as he lowered himself half on top of her and began peppering her face with kisses. "We're having a baby. Oh, my god." He was in about the same amount of shock that she had been in - still was - and she couldn't stop the little giggle from bursting forth.

"I love you so, so much," She whispered, caressing his face reverently. Storing away a mental image of all his facial features. He was beautiful and she loved him _so_ much.

Jughead laughed softly, wincing as he did, and cradled his aching ribs in one hand and her face in the other as he pressed kiss after kiss on her lips.

This was nowhere near as romantic, or as fun as she'd imagine telling him she was pregnant. Although, her daydreams usually consisted of them being older and living together before they started conceiving. But this, this was so much better because Jughead was _alive a_ nd he was breathing and they had created something beautiful together and s _he loved him so much._


End file.
